{By a river side} (para potamon). The little river
Gangites (or Gargites) was one mile west of the town. Philippi as
a military outpost had few Jews. There was evidently no synagogue
inside the city, but "without the gates" (ex(9320)t(8873) pul(8873)) they
had noticed an enclosure "where we supposed" (hou enomizomen,
correct text, imperfect active), probably as they came into the
city, "was a place of prayer" (proscuch(886e) einai). Infinitive
with accusative of general reference in indirect discourse.
Proseuch(885c) is common in the LXX and the N.T. for the act of
prayer as in  Ac 2:42  then for a place of prayer either a
synagogue (III Macc. 7:20) or more often an open air enclosure
near the sea or a river where there was water for ceremonial
ablutions. The word occurs also in heathen writers for a place of
prayer (Schurer, _Jewish People_, Div. II, Vol. II, p. 69, Engl.
Tr.). Deissmann (_Bible Studies_, p. 222) quotes an Egyptian
inscription of the third century B.C. with this sense of the word
and one from Panticapaeum on the Black Sea of the first century
A.D. (_Light from the Ancient East_, p. 102). Juvenal (III. 296)
has a sneering reference to the Jewish proseucha. Josephus
(_Ant_. XIV. 10, 23) quotes a decree of Halicarnassus which
allowed the Jews "to make their prayers (proseuchas) on the
seashore according to the custom of their fathers." There was a
synagogue in Thessalonica, but apparently none in Amphipolis and
Apollonia ( Ac 17:1 ). The rule of the rabbis required ten men to
constitute a synagogue, but here were gathered only a group of
women at the hour of prayer. In pioneer days in this country it
was a common thing to preach under bush arbours in the open air.
John Wesley and George Whitfield were great open air preachers.
Paul did not have an inspiring beginning for his work in Europe,
but he took hold where he could. The conjecture was correct. It
was a place of prayer, but only a bunch of women had come
together (	ais sunelthousais gunaixin), excuse enough for not
preaching to some preachers, but not to Paul and his party. The
"man of Macedonia" turned out to be a group of women (Furneaux).
Macedonian inscriptions show greater freedom for women in
Macedonia than elsewhere at this time and confirm Luke's story of
the activities of women in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea. {We sat
down and spake} (kathisantes elaloumen). Having taken our seats
(aorist active participle of kathiz(935c)) we began to speak or
preach (inchoative imperfect of lale(935c), often used for
preaching). Sitting was the Jewish attitude for public speaking.
It was not mere conversation, but more likely conversational
preaching of an historical and expository character. Luke's use
of the first person plural implies that each of the four (Paul,
Silas, Timothy, Luke) preached in turn, with Paul as chief
speaker.